A statement from the Monitor

Jill Carroll, a freelance writer currently on assignment for The Christian Science Monitor, was abducted in western Baghdad on Saturday morning, local time. Her Iraqi interpreter was fatally wounded in the kidnapping. Her Iraqi driver escaped unharmed.

At this point, no one has claimed responsibility.

Jill, 28, is an established journalist who has been reporting from the Middle East for Jordanian, Italian, and other news organizations over the past three years. In recent months, the Monitor has tapped into her professionalism, energy, and fair reporting on the Iraqi scene. It was her drive to gather direct and accurate views from political leaders that took her into western Baghdad's Adil neighborhood on Saturday morning.

The Monitor joins Jill's colleagues - Iraqi and foreign - in the Baghdad press in calling for her immediate and safe release.

"Jill's ability to help others understand the issues facing all groups in Iraq has been invaluable. We are urgently seeking information about Ms. Carroll and are pursuing every avenue to secure her release," says Monitor Editor Richard Bergenheim.

Founded in 1908, the Monitor is an award-winning daily newspaper based in Boston. Known for its balanced coverage of international news, the Monitor has won seven Pulitzer Prizes, including one in 1996 for uncovering the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. The Monitor is a nonreligious newspaper published as a public service.